Categories: GeneralSynonyms

MYSTERY: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for MYSTERY?

Need another word that means the same as “mystery”? Find 21 synonyms and 30 related words for “mystery” in this overview.

The synonyms of “Mystery” are: enigma, secret, mystery story, whodunit, puzzle, conundrum, riddle, problem, question, question mark, secrecy, darkness, obscurity, ambiguity, uncertainty, impenetrability, vagueness, thriller, detective novel, detective story, murder story

Mystery as a Noun

Definitions of "Mystery" as a noun

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “mystery” as a noun can have the following definitions:

  • A novel, play, or film dealing with a puzzling crime, especially a murder.
  • Something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain.
  • Secrecy or obscurity.
  • A religious belief based on divine revelation, especially one regarded as beyond human understanding.
  • The secret rites of Greek and Roman pagan religion, or of any ancient or tribal religion, to which only initiates are admitted.
  • The Christian Eucharist.
  • The practices, skills, or lore peculiar to a particular trade or activity and regarded as baffling to those without specialized knowledge.
  • Something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained.
  • A story about a crime (usually murder) presented as a novel or play or movie.
  • A person or thing whose identity or nature is puzzling or unknown.
  • An incident in the life of Jesus or of a saint as a focus of devotion in the Roman Catholic Church, especially each of those commemorated during recitation of successive decades of the rosary.

Synonyms of "Mystery" as a noun (21 Words)

ambiguityAn expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context.
We can detect no ambiguity in this section of the Act.
conundrumA question asked for amusement, typically one with a pun in its answer; a riddle.
One of the most difficult conundrums for the experts.
darknessThe quality of being dark in colour.
The office was in darkness.
detective novelA police officer who investigates crimes.
detective storyAn investigator engaged or employed in obtaining information not easily available to the public.
enigmaA person or thing that is mysterious or difficult to understand.
Madeleine was still an enigma to him.
impenetrabilityIncomprehensibility by virtue of being too dense to understand.
murder storyUnlawful premeditated killing of a human being by a human being.
mystery storyA story about a crime (usually murder) presented as a novel or play or movie.
obscurityThe state of being unknown, inconspicuous, or unimportant.
He is too good a player to slide into obscurity.
problemA state of difficulty that needs to be resolved.
What s the problem.
puzzleA jigsaw puzzle.
The meaning of the poem has always been a puzzle.
questionAn instance of questioning.
He asked a direct question.
question markAn informal reference to a marriage proposal.
riddleA question or statement intentionally phrased so as to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning.
The riddle of her death.
secrecyThe trait of keeping things secret.
The bidding is conducted in secrecy.
secretSomething that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
The secret of Cajun cooking.
thrillerA very exciting contest or experience.
A seven goal thriller.
uncertaintyThe state of being uncertain.
The uncertainty of the outcome.
vaguenessLack of preciseness in thought or communication.
The Conservative manifesto is a model of vagueness.
whodunitA story about a crime (usually murder) presented as a novel or play or movie.

Usage Examples of "Mystery" as a noun

  • A mystery guest.
  • The 1920s murder mystery, The Ghost Train.
  • What happened after he left home that day remains a mystery.
  • ‘He's a bit of a mystery,’ said Nina.
  • The mysteries of analytical psychology.
  • The first Sorrowful Mystery, the Agony in the Garden.
  • How it got out is a mystery.
  • Much of her past is shrouded in mystery.
  • The mysteries of outer space.
  • The mystery of Christ.

Associations of "Mystery" (30 Words)

abstruseDifficult to understand; obscure.
The professor s lectures were so abstruse that students tended to avoid them.
abysmalVery great; limitless.
Waterfalls that plunge into abysmal depths.
arcaneRequiring secret or mysterious knowledge.
The arcane science of dowsing.
conundrumA confusing and difficult problem or question.
One of the most difficult conundrums for the experts.
crypticHaving a secret or hidden meaning.
Cryptic plumage is thought to minimize predation.
cryptogramA symbol or figure with secret or occult significance.
enigmaA person or thing that is mysterious or difficult to understand.
Madeleine was still an enigma to him.
enigmaticNot clear to the understanding.
An enigmatic smile.
esotericaEsoteric or highly specialized subjects or publications.
A professor of such esoterica as angelology and comparative shamanism.
incomprehensibleNot able to be understood; not intelligible.
A language which is incomprehensible to anyone outside the office.
inscrutableOf an obscure nature- Rachel.
Guy looked blankly inscrutable.
miracleAny amazing or wonderful occurrence.
A machine which was a miracle of design.
mysteriousHaving an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding.
The new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms.
mythicalOccurring in or characteristic of myths or folk tales.
A mythical age of contentment and social order.
occultHaving an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding.
The lids were occulting her eyes.
preternaturalExisting outside of or not in accordance with nature.
Autumn had arrived with preternatural speed.
problemA source of difficulty.
Practitioners help families develop strategies for managing problem behaviour in teens.
puzzleA jigsaw puzzle.
She was trying to puzzle out who the speakers were.
puzzlingLacking clarity of meaning; causing confusion or perplexity.
Only one very puzzling question remains unanswered.
recondite(of a subject or knowledge) little known; abstruse.
Some recondite problem in historiography.
riddleSpeak in riddles.
They started asking riddles and telling jokes.
secretGiven in confidence or in secret.
A secret agent.
solveFind the solution.
The policy could solve the town s housing crisis.
superhumanAbove or beyond the human or demanding more than human power or endurance.
Superhuman beings.
tantalizeTorment or tease (someone) with the sight or promise of something that is unobtainable.
Such ambitious questions have long tantalized the world s best thinkers.
unaccountableNot to be accounted for or explained.
He was not only the most charismatic man she d ever met but also the most complex and unaccountable.
unfathomableIncapable of being fully explored or understood.
Her grey eyes were dark with some unfathomable emotion.
unresolvedCharacterized by musical dissonance harmonically unresolved.
Many problems remain unresolved.
unsolvedNot solved.
An unsolved mystery.
whodunitA story about a crime (usually murder) presented as a novel or play or movie.
Alexei

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